Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Cabinet on Tuesday approved the lowest financial bid of over Rs 121 crore for the execution of three lift irrigation projects under the “Parbati Giri Mega Lift Irrigation Scheme” in Balangir district.
The work will be taken up at an execution cost of Rs 121,80,78,661.00, excluding GST. The O&M cost for 15 years has been approved at Rs 9,74,46,293.00 excluding GST. The project is scheduled to be completed in 36 calendar months, Chief Secretary told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
Under the scheme, water will be lifted from Tel River and Undar River through the Patharla ISS intake system. It will then be distributed through a pressurized distribution system to create an additional irrigation potential of about 4,330 hectare in Balangir district.
The “Parbati Giri Mega Lift Irriga
tion Scheme” was formulated with a total outlay of Rs 10,759.20 Crore. The scheme aims to provide supplemental kharif irrigation in the upland ayacut of about 2,63,801 Ha across the State by lifting surplus water from rivers, reservoirs and canals. These upland areas could not be irrigated earlier through normal flow irrigation due to geographical constraints.
Farmers from 25 villages of Balangir district will be benefited on completion of this project. With micro-irrigation compatibility, farmers will be encouraged to shift from high water-duty paddy crops to cash crops.
Officials said the project will also help improve the socio-economic condition of upland farmers by ensuring assured irrigation and better crop diversification.
The Cabinet also approved a major expansion of the “Setu Bandhan Yojana (SBY)” to strengthen rural connectivity with the construction of 1,750 new bridges.
The scheme, initially launched as “Biju Setu Yojana (BSY)” in 2011-12, aims to bridge all missing-links on roads under the RD Department. It also covers strategic and important Panchayat Samiti roads belonging to the PR & DW Department.
The objective is to provide an effective all-weather road network across the state to meet the transportation needs of every sector in a cost-effective manner.For the current phase from 2021-22 to 2025-26, the scheme was approved with an outlay of Rs 8,779.22 Cr for execution of 2,403 bridges — 380 ongoing and 2,023 new.